SA academy in NASA logo row

Johannesburg - The National Artisans and Skills Academy in Benoni has been ordered to stop using the name and logo of the United States' National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) said on Wednesday it made the ruling after a complaint by the Ekurhuleni Artisans and Skills Training Centre.

The Ekurhuleni centre contended that the name and logo being used in the academy's advertising was being used to wrongly reflect a connotation with, or to create a similar expectation as that of, the space administration.

The Benoni academy responded by saying it had withdrawn its brochures, stopped distributing them and had created a new design for its pamphlets.

It also said the acronym was not intended to mislead the public.

The ASA found that the respondent did not manufacture aeronautical products or train aeronautical students, but said NASA was the body that had a right to complain - not the Ekurhuleni centre.

It nevertheless ordered the Benoni centre to stop using the NASA logo.